[Legacy's Allure] Gearing Up For The World Championships

[GreenOne]

GenCon is less than a month away, and for players interested in taking home the title of World Champion, now is the time to prepare.

Link to article (http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/17777.html).

Why isn't people posting Starcity articles in this forum anymore? Am I the only one in the world subscribed to SCG:Lagcy RSS feed?


EDIT: Apparently I am.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2607/3748639309_e7f8ec2bdb.jpg

[Aggro_zombies]

I tested that Dark Enchantress deck out when I first saw it (because it looked cool), and I have to say that it's really janky. Like, "a computer error accidentally put this guy in the Top 8" kind of janky. In addition to being 63 cards, the deck is absolute shit without at least one card drawing spell in play, and the deck is so dependent on Cadaverous Bloom that losing it to either Needle or removal is virtually GG provided the opponent has any pressure at all. It needs a major overhaul to be even close to viable. My impressions:

- Planar Void, Lignify, Crossroads, and probably both of the Seals are weak and should be shifted to the sideboard, if not outright dropped.

- The deck needs more of a backup game plan than one Words of Wilding. Adding more would be a good start, but something like Garruk or Liliana Vess would help a lot (despite not being enchantments). Garruk especially is good with heavily enchanted lands and provides a weak alternative to Bloom as a mana generator.

- When you start to combo off with only one Enchantress effect in play, the deck tends to peter out a lot. You really need at least two Enchantress cards or a full hand to be able to get enough critical mass to play Tendrils. I know it sounds odd to add things that aren't enchantments, but adding Harmonize and Night's Whisper/Sign in Blood can help get the deck started again if it stalls.

- Since most of the deck's cards are permanents, a regrowth or two may be worth a shot in the sideboard. Losing Cadaverous Bloom sucks because you have no other good ways to generate the amount of mana you'd need for nine spells and a Tendrils. If you don't want to add things that aren't enchantments, Holistic Wisdom is probably a reasonable substitute.

- The deck would have a much easier time if it could get back a Tendrils it already played and then replay it. Eternal Witness (or Regrowth) could help a lot in this respect, since it more than halves the number of spells you have to play in order to win (from nine and Tendrils to three, Tendrils, Witness, Tendrils).

- I don't think the deck does enough to stop blue decks from executing their game plan. Countering Bloom and then swinging into the red zone with Tarmogoyf or Clique is bad news for this deck. Choke helps but is probably too slow and conditional to really even things out; Defense Grid is decent, but you're most likely going to lose game one anyway, making game two really dicey if something goes wrong. Again, the deck really needs a backup plan.

It's interesting, but like most decks that lean heavily on a single card to work, it's very vulnerable. It's also rather slow: Bloom costs five mana, which often means you won't be able to go off until the next turn unless you have multiple enchantress effects and at least half of a full hand to get started. You can accelerate into Bloom, but unless you want to live dangerously and go off with only one Enchantress, the deck is much slower than Tendrils-combo alternatives TES and ANT. The varied curve makes it slightly more resistant to Chalice and Counterbalance than those two, but it also costs the deck in other ways that are not as good. Overall, cute but probably not practical.

EDIT: To elaborate a bit on my second point, it's not uncommon to have multiple enchantress effects in play, but it does slow the deck down to do so. Losing speed is problematic for this deck.

EDIT 2: For some reason, I forgot Regrowth was legal in this format.

[Finn]

Doug, I am glad that you took some time to post some decklists with a wider variety of creatures. In particular Vendillion Clique is really hot.

[Bardo]

Read it this morning. Very, very good. Well done, Doug.

[mossivo1986]

im pretty confused

[miss_bun]

I really don't like this deck, even if it is an interesting twist. Even if it was tuned to perfection, I'm not really a fan of enchantress to begin with tho, so I'm prolly not the best judge.